


Miles to Go Before I Sleep

by AlexandraDanino (AlekPixi)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Forests, Horror, Inspired by the Slenderman mythos, Judaism, Missing Persons, Supernatural Elements, Suspense, schwartzwald
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-04-01 07:24:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13993356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlekPixi/pseuds/AlexandraDanino
Summary: When mysterious disappearances start happening in the forest on the edge of town, high school student Noah and her new classmate start investigating the local history, only to find that this has happened before. And when a malevolent entity targets Noah's best friend, she suddenly finds herself having to face the creature of the forest head-on.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Dedications:
> 
> For Rory,  
> who was always there  
> ((())) ^5
> 
> And for Neil,  
> who reminded me to trust my heart, and trust my story
> 
>  
> 
> The woods are lovely, dark and deep  
> But I’ve got promises to keep  
> And miles to go before I sleep  
> And miles to go before I sleep
> 
> \- Stopping by woods on a snowy evening  
> By Robert Frost

It had started as a game.

It was September, the first week of a new school year, and Noah’s classmate had invited some of the girls over for what she had called a “pajama party”, but it was really more of a “let’s talk about the boys in our class” party.  
Noah was only part of the group peripherally, mostly because she was friends with Jessica, as she had been since kindergarten. Jessica made friends easily. Noah did not. She tended to keep mostly to herself if she could help it. But not this time. Not tonight. Jessica had insisted on bringing her along, saying that it would do her good to see her classmates after the summer holiday, and that she couldn’t use the excuse that it was Shabbat, because Jessica knew that Noah wasn’t very religious anyway, and she was 16 now, for god’s sake.  
And so, Noah found herself on Laura Lund’s floor in her pajamas, listening to the others as they talked about the three new transfer students, rating them in terms of coolness and how friendly they were. Noah said nothing, but continued to nurse her mug of hot chocolate as the others decided on a game of Truth or Dare. The questions were predictable, followed by much giggling;  
“Who do you like?”  
“Have you done it yet?”  
“Would you rather this or that?”  
It continued in this fashion until it was Jessica’s turn. Noah smiled knowingly. Jessica always chose Dare. They wouldn’t get any secrets from her, even if they subjected her to torture.  
“I dare you to… Stay in the woods for 15 minutes… Without a flashlight,” Susan dared her.  
Everyone grew quiet, and Noah felt a rush of nervousness in the pit of her stomach.  
Over the summer, two people had gone missing, both living close to the woods like Laura. On the first day of school, she had told everyone who bothered to listen that the police had been there to ask if her family had noticed anything strange prior to the disappearances.  
Not to mention, those woods gave Noah the creeps. Few people actually ventured in there. She had been there, what, twice? She’d never gone far, only a couple of meters, before chickening out. And she had lived in the town her whole life. The woods were dense, you could hardly see the sky through the leafy canopy, and it was generally advised against leaving the trails. The woods stretched for miles. She was sure it wasn’t the first time people had gotten lost in there, and it was probably what had happened to Laura’s neighbors.  
“Fine,” Jessica said resolutely. “I’ll do it.”  
Noah cringed. She knew that Jessica was fearless – they had watched their fair share of horror movies together, and in the smaller grades, she’d been known as “Jessica the Courageous” on the playground – but this… This was just plain foolhardy.  
“Are you sure?” Kim asked. “You do know the legend, right?”  
“I do,” Jessica said, but Laura and Samantha didn’t, so Kim started telling, her face lit by the candles in the room.  
“It’s said that back in the day, when the children were sent into the forest to gather firewood, their mothers would give them a silver coin to carry. If they strayed from the path, Der Großmann would get them. If they gave him their silver coin, he would leave them alone, but if not… He would eat them.”  
“That’s the children’s tale, sure,” Jessica said, throwing her long, golden hair. “But I heard that he would impale them on trees… But not before he’d taken out their organs, put them into plastic bags, and re-inserted them into the body…”  
“But they didn’t have plastic bags back then! It was like… the middle ages or something!” Kim interrupted. Noah could feel goose bumps rising on her olive skin.  
“Maybe he got creative as time went by,” Jessica suggested, earning a few giggles from the others. “Anyway, shall we?” She got to her feet. The others squirmed a bit.  
“Seriously, after that story, you’re still game?”  
“Well, of course. We ain’t scared of no ghost, right Noah?”  
Noah felt six pairs of eyes on her, and managed to mumble a short “Uh, of course not,” flusteredly.  
So they all went for their coats and shoes, keeping their pajamas on underneath, and then started walking towards the woods. It was only a short walk, and they reached the end far too soon for anyone’s liking except Jessica’s.  
Jessica seemed unfazed. She was laughing and joking with Kim and Anna all the way until they stopped.  
“Well, here we are, then,” Laura said, biting her lower lip. “Don’t go too far, okay?”  
“Don’t worry,” Jessica said. “I won’t.”  
She then started walking. Her steps could be heard in the undergrowth, and she was almost completely out of the light from the streetlamps when Noah called out, “Wait!”  
Jessica’s steps halted, and Noah ran to her while digging through the pocket of her parka, finding her red wallet.  
“Take this with you,” she said, withdrawing a large silver coin from it.  
“What is this?” Jessica asked, turning the coin over in her hand, squinting through the darkness. “An old D-Mark?”  
“No, it’s way older than that. It’s a Vehrensdahler,” Noah said, stuffing her hands back in her pockets. “My grandma gave it to me for my Bat Mitzvah. For luck. I guess you need it more than me right now.”  
Jessica laughed – a small, nervous laugh. The weight of the situation was finally getting to her. She pocketed it in her coat.  
“I’ll make sure to return it, don’t worry.”  
“Promise?”  
Her best friend nodded and kissed her cheek, and then she turned on her heel and walked into the dark woods, whistling a happy tune.  
And that was the last they saw of Jessica that night.


	2. Chapter 2

The police found her the next morning.  
Noah was told that Jessica had been found 20 kilometers from where she had gone into the forest, and that she had been dazed and scared, but otherwise okay.  
The girls had waited for an hour before deciding to call the police. Noah had wanted to go in and look for Jessica, but the others had convinced her to stay; it wouldn’t do them any good if she went missing as well.  
Because of the two incidents of people going missing, the police took it very seriously, and searched all night, with dogs and radios, while the parents gave their girls the scolding of a lifetime.  
Jessica’s parents would hardly look at Noah, and she knew that they were disappointed with her. She had always been the voice of reason in the duo. They had expected better.  
Noah’s mother had taken her home, and after scolding her daughter, she comforted her. After all, her best friend had gone missing. Noah didn’t sleep that night. She ended up brushing her mass of dark, curly hair for hours, and with each stroke of the brush, she prayed for Jessica to be safe.  
She must have fallen asleep at some point early in the morning, because when she woke, she found herself slumped over her dresser, brush still in hand, as her mother shook her awake.  
“She’s been found!” her mother beamed. Noah sat up in a flash, demanding, “Where?!”  
Her mother told her that a jogger had seen Jessica stumble out of the woods and looking like she needed help. He had called the police and an ambulance, and now, she was finally home.  
“Did she say what happened?” Noah asked. Her mother shook her head. The policeman who had phoned had only told her so much.  
“Can I go and see her?”  
“I don’t know, sweetie. She needs to rest; she had a real scare – we all did. I think her parents would like her for themselves for now. You’ll see her at school on Monday.”  
The rest of the weekend went by agonizingly slowly.  
On Monday, when Noah arrived at the school’s gate, she saw Jessica in the courtyard, surrounded by their classmates as well as both older and younger students who all wanted to know what had happened. Jessica looked pale and tired, but Noah noted that, as her mom had said, nothing seemed to be wrong. In fact, she had a feeling that Jessica enjoyed all the attention she was getting, especially from Samuel, an upperclassman whose affection Jessica had been fighting for since they started school last year. The way she twirled a lock of hair around her finger was a sure give-away.  
Noah smiled. Jessica would tell her everything later. They had time.

Noah had counted on being paired up with Jessica as usual for History, but their teacher seemed to have another idea.  
“You’re so locked in your small cliques, so for this project, I want to shake things up a little,” he said before grouping them according to their seats, meaning that Jessica was paired up with Anna, and Noah with Zacharias, one of the new transfer students. Jessica and Noah sent each other longing stares before Jessica blew a kiss, which Noah pretended to catch. She then resigned to her fate.  
It wasn’t that bad, really. Zacharias was smart – he’d gone to a private school before transferring, something about his father’s job and a change of scenery – and he was pretty, in a sort of mundane way. And he smelled nice, unlike a lot of sixteen year old boys that Noah knew, which earned him a lot of points in her book.  
“Your friend… She’s the one who went missing in the woods this weekend?” Zacharias asked, gesturing to Jessica. Noah nodded, and her partner made a face.  
“My father’s one of the park rangers. He said the police turned every leaf and stone when they looked for her. Total panic.” He then glanced at Jessica, who was already busy with the group work at her table, trying to come up with a historical phenomenon to research. “I’m glad she’s okay. The other two who went missing… My father’s really worried,” he concluded, absentmindedly biting the end of his pencil.  
“They’ll be found soon, though. Doesn’t he think so?” Noah asked, History project forgotten on the table in front of them.  
“I dunno. My dad says that the forest gives him really bad vibes. Apparently, weird stuff’s happened there in the past.”  
“Really?” Noah asked, intrigued. She’d known about Der Großmann for a while, but she’d thought it was only an old wives’ tale, not that there was anything substantial about it. Zacharias looked at her now, as if it was the first time he really, actually saw her.  
“Yeah, apparently this isn’t the first time people have gone missing. It’s been going on for decades.” He then chuckled apologetically when he saw her expression. “Sorry. Don’t wanna scare you or anything.”  
Right as he said that, their teacher came to stand in front of their desk.  
“Fraulein Hinzelmann, Herr Mencken, have you decided on a topic you would like to work with?” he asked. Noah mentally braced herself.  
“Yes, we’d like to investigate this town’s history in regards to the mysterious disappearances that have occurred over the years,” her voice sounded clearly. The teacher seemingly accepted this, jotting it down in his notebook before going to the next group. Noah turned to Zacharias, who looked at her with his mouth agape, seemingly stunned.  
“What?” Noah asked with a smile, although her tone was defiant. “Don’t think I’ll be scared that easily.”  
Zacharias smirked and clapped her shoulder. His hand was broad and heavy, she noted. And warm.  
“Y’know what, Hinzelmann? You’re ok.”


	3. Chapter 3

Noah finally managed to get a hold of Jessica when the final bell rang. She ran up to her, and they left the school arm in arm, narrowly escaping even more students that wanted to hear about the drama.  
“So… What happened?”  
“I honestly don’t know,” Jessica shrugged after a pause.  
“What do you mean, “you don’t know”? You of all people should know!”  
Jessica puckered her lips, as she always did when she was thinking of how to phrase something exactly the right way. Noah knew that look.  
“Well… You remember that movie we watched about those alien abductions? What was it called?”  
“Are you saying that you were abducted by aliens?” Because I knew you were crazy, but–”  
“No, silly. Let me finish,” Jessica scolded, playfully hitting Noah on the arm. “Remember how the abductees said that they “lost time” when they were abducted?”  
“Yeah, they looked at the clock, got abducted, came back, like, an hour later, and didn’t remember the time that had passed? To them, it was like time hadn’t passed at all?”  
“That’s what I’m saying.”  
“You lost time?” Noah asked incredulously.  
“It was around 11 when we left. I started walking, and next thing I know, I’m stumbling out of the woods and it’s daylight, and I feel terrible, and everyone’s freaking out. I know hours passed, but I honestly don’t remember anything at all.”  
Noah pondered this for a moment. When the silence got too heavy to bear, Jessica asked, “You do believe me, don’t you?”  
“It just… It sounds crazy, y’know?”  
“I’m aware of that, yeah. I’m the one who’s had to tell everyone. I figured at least you would believe me. Nobody else does.”   
“I want to believe…” Noah grimaced. She then remembered something else. “Hey, you still have my coin?”  
Now it was Jessica’s turn to grimace – but not just because she was uncomfortable about the question; it looked like she was in real pain.  
“Jess? You okay?”  
“I… I’m sorry. Must’ve lost it in the woods,” she finally managed as she rubbed her temples. Noah tried to mask the hurt on her face. That coin had been important to her.  
“Oh,” she simply said, nothing more. They’d reached Jessica’s house, a two-story building with an old oak tree in the front yard, so close to Jessica’s window that she could easily climb out on its branches if she wanted to sneak out at night.  
“Noah, I mean it, I’m really–”  
“Forget it,” Noah only realized afterwards how harshly it had come out. She tried again. “Seriously, don’t worry about it. Just… Go inside, take a nap. You don’t look so good, honestly.”  
Which was true; Jessica’s otherwise healthy complexion had turned pale, and the white sclera of her eyes looked almost gray. It seemed like she wanted to keep apologizing, but then gave up and said instead, “Yeah. Guess I’m coming down with something.”  
“Probably because of the alien butt-probing,” Noah teased, desperately trying to lighten the mood. She managed to get a weak smile from Jessica before she went inside. Noah started walking towards her own house – only 10 minutes from Jessica’s on foot. She noticed a small symbol carved into the wood in one of the fence poles in front of Jessica’s house. An O with an X through it.  
Noah chose to ignore it. Probably the boys living on the street had done it when they were bored.


	4. Chapter 4

A week passed. Noah found herself swamped with homework, and on top of that, her volleyball team had started practicing again, now that summer vacation was over. This left her little time to spend with Jessica, and every time she called her, there was static on the line, which rendered conversations more or less impossible.  
That Monday – a week after Jessica had told her about how she’d lost time in the woods – Noah walked to the library with Zacharias after school.  
“Do you think we’ll be able to find anything?” Noah asked. Zacharias shrugged under his heavy schoolbag.  
“Libraries in small towns like this one usually keep a record of their newspapers. If we can figure out the approximate dates of the disappearances, we should be able to see if the papers mentioned anything about it, right?”  
They reached the library, and asked the librarian – a withered old lady with thinning white hair and round spectacles – and she walked them to the newspaper section with a baffled look on her wrinkled face.  
“What would you youngsters want with these old papers, anyway?” she asked conversationally. Zacharias beamed up at her, seemingly hoping that his pleasant attitude would help them.  
“We’re investigating the disappearances of the townsfolk over the last few decades, for a school project,” he explained.  
“Decades?” The old woman guffawed, a throaty laugh despite her fragile appearance.  
“…Yes?” Noah said uncertainly, looking over at Zacharias who looked just as confused. “Why is that so funny?”  
“My dear detectives,” the old librarian said, smiling almost apologetically at them. “Those disappearances have happened over the last few centuries!”  
Zacharias and Noah looked at her, then at each other, and then back at the librarian.  
“Centuries?” Zacharias finally parroted. The old woman nodded, her humor seemingly washed away, replaced by the gravity of the subject.  
“Oh yes,” she said, pausing for effect. “Do you know the legend of Der Großmann?” Noah and Zacharias both nodded.  
“That legend originated from here.” The librarian led them away from the newspapers and into another section, almost all the way in the back, where the dusty shelves were lined with old, mold-smelling books. The light bulbs gave off a yellowish light, and one of them was flickering on and off every now and then. It was obvious that this section of the library wasn’t visited very often.  
“You can trace it all the way back to the 16th century. Originally, he was the one they blamed for all the kidnappings. When I was a wee lass, they began changing the story, calling him a myth, saying that we shouldn’t explain happening like that with fairy tales. I’m surprised you know about him. Most people have forgotten all about it by now.”  
She selected a few books and handed them to Noah, who desperately tried not to wrinkle her nose at the smell and instead opted to hold her breath for as long as she could.  
“Now, let’s see… One of them disappeared when I was 10, so that must have been…” the old lady mumbled to herself as she made her way back to the checkout register, where she found pen and paper. She jotted down a few years, some even with months, while Noah and Zacharias looked at the old books in Noah’s arms. Minutes of silence passed before Noah dared ask;  
“Do you know if anyone was ever found? If they got back?”  
The librarian paused and looked at her over her glasses.  
“Only one, as far as I know. That was over 50 years ago, though.”  
“Do you think we’d be able to talk to him? Do you know where he is today?” Zacharias inquired. The old woman sniffed.  
“’Course I do. Went to church with him, back then. They sent him to the hospital when they found him, but even if he was alive, he was gone. Terrible fate. They locked him up in the asylum next town over.”

Jessica didn’t show up for school the next day. She didn’t answer Noah’s texts, and none of their friends knew if she was sick, or just skipping classes.  
Zacharias hadn’t shown up for the first two periods, either, but when they finally reached History-class, he plopped down in the empty chair next to Noah, who looked up from one of the library books they had borrowed, many of which were currently stacked on their shared desk.  
“Thought you weren’t gonna come,” she said, turning a moldy page with the tips of her fingers. Zacharias stifled a yawn and rubbed his forehead.  
“I went to bed at 5. Was up all night reading, didn’t hear the alarm, and my parents didn’t know we started classes early today, so they let me sleep.” He dug around in his backpack and pulled out a notebook.  
“I’m not kidding, I just started this and when I looked at the time, it was morning,” he said, opening the notebook for Noah to see. It was filled with handwritten notes, mind maps, and references to books and page numbers, obviously brainstorming.  
“Wait, you were studying?” Noah asked, quite surprised. She knew that Zacharias was invested in the subject, but she hadn’t expected it to be to this degree. The other boys in class were known for just doing the bare minimum, letting their partner pull the weight of the assignment.  
“Well, obviously,” Zacharias said, turning the pages. “This stuff is really weird. They used to say that Der Großmann would tie people to the trees. Some of the books say that the trees grew so quickly in his presence that it stretched the victim to death, but one of the books said it was for a ritual of some sort, but I couldn’t understand what it meant, really. I think it’s the oldest one we were allowed to take home, honestly.”  
Noah was only half listening. She had noticed something that Zacharias had drawn on the corner of the paper. It was a familiar symbol, and it sent chills down her spine.  
“The stuff about organs in plastic bags is new-” Zacharias continued, but Noah interrupted him;  
“What’s this? I’ve seen it before.”  
“Oh, that?” Zacharias scrunched up his nose. “The meaning behind it differs from text to text. Some of them say it’s a protective symbol to ward him off, others say it draws him near, but apparently it had to be cut into wood for it to work. It’s old, I even saw it in some of the pictures of the woodcuttings from all the way back then,” he said. Noah swallowed hard. It was the same symbol that she had seen carved into the fence in front of Jessica’s house.  
“You know, maybe it marks who his next victim will be,” Zacharias mused. Noah didn’t say anything. She didn’t know what to say.


	5. Chapter 5

She went directly to Jessica’s house after school that day.  
“Noah? Oh, thank goodness,” Jessica’s mother said when she opened the door, obviously no longer angry with her like she’d been after the night of her daughter’s disappearance.  
“Maybe you can get her to come out. She’s locked herself in her room. Doesn’t want to come out, doesn’t want anyone to come in. Says she’s sick and doesn’t want us to get sick, too. But… Really, she’s been acting so strange since that night,” her mother confided in a hushed voice, obviously at her wit’s end.  
“You’re her best friend. Please…”  
Noah went up the stairs and knocked on Jessica’s door.  
“Jess? It’s me… I know you’re in there,” she said. “Your mom’s worried. Please come out?”  
She heard shuffling from inside the room, then Jessica’s voice, hoarse and barely audible, as if she’d been crying.  
“Please go away,” she said. Noah shifted uneasily from foot to foot before clenching her fists at her sides.  
“No,” she said resolutely. “I want to believe.”  
A pause. Then a click from the door, signaling it was unlocked. Noah opened it and entered.  
The curtains were drawn, and the room was engulfed in almost complete darkness, the only light coming from the open doorway and a small crack from where the curtains couldn’t reach each other. Noah could make out Jessica’s form on the bed, where she sat with her knees drawn up to her chest. Noah took a step inside, and was met with the feeling of crinkled paper under her feet.  
She looked at the floor while her hand found the light switch on the wall, and was met with the sight of paper littering the room, so much that she suspected Jessica of raiding the family’s printer. Some of the papers were crumbled, but most of them just discarded. On them were drawn crude images of trees, and short sentences that made Noah feel the heat drain from her face.

HE’S THERE  
GO AWAY ALWAYS WATCHING  
NO EYES  
CAN’T RUN DON’T LOOK FOLLOWS  
LEAVE ME ALONE  
TRUST NO ONE  
HELP ME  
HELP ME  
NO NO  
NO NO NO N͠O̕ ̧NO͏ NO̶ NO̸ NO͝ N̩͓̬̪̓ͧ̈́̆̇Ọ͖̟̰̜́̿̾̆̐̀ ̤̘̄͗N̯̬͕ͬ͂̏O̦̱̖̯̖̥͈͒ͨͬ̒ͤͫ͆ ͈̳̹͓̞͙̔̒̉͐̊ͩ̀͂N̘̣̗̳͈͙̘̙͔͌̽ͦ͑͌͌̉O̼̙̳͖ͭͭ͑ͣͫͭͯ̚ ͍̣͔̞ͥ̾̽ͅÑ͖͎̮̹͙͈̯͈̗̑̌̾O̹͖̮̅̿ ̰̻͎̬̤̼́̾̐̒N̖̖̝̹̤̉̐ͤO͍̟̍ͫ́̾̑ ͈̼̳̮̫̮̳̏̅͐̃̒ͤ̒N̬ͤ̀̌̓Õ͖̬̥̬͎͊ͅ ̠̗̩̟̞̘̭ͦ̓Ṋ͎̞̗̌͗ͪ̇O͕̤̖̦̙̔͐͐̓ͩ̏ͤ ̻̬̜̝̬̹̪͗̈N̞̻͕̳͖̭͆̈́͋͌̏͌O͎̜͉̗͎̒̓ ̝̭̯̟̥͔̭̖̌ͪN̤̺̠̞͎̩̣̋́͆̔ͬ́̏̈Ȯ̟̯͔̳͎̟̜̊ ̲ͪͦͮ͂ͤ͑̎̐̈́Ń͍ͫǑ̮̯̖͙̋̈́̊ ̭͚͙ͮ̉ͨ̀̿ͩͣṊ͔͚̜͇̹͉͌͋̇O̫͈̗͖͎̰̖̭ͨ ̣̣͔̠͖̯͙̹̊͛ͪ͑́N̫̳̲̙ͦ̈́̐̓O̺̗̪̖̖̹̱ͮͬ̑́ ͉̜͖̪͔͙̓N̺̠̝̆̇̓̎͂̾O̦̖͉̙̻̼̘̼͊̒ ͔̭̫̏̅̔̇̓N̪̙̰̩̮̾̂̾ͅȎ͚̠̘̪͔͒̐̈́ ͖̭͍̬͊N͕̖͍̤͕̟̰͊̚O̤̗̖̙͕̠̯̫̒̎ ̦͔͓͉͓͎͖͉̂́ͤŇ̤̹̣̬̺̣̥͍O̗̳̊͑͛̋̀ ̣͌̈́ͨ͐̾͆͗N̦͈̮̖̰̘͇͓̤͒͒̊Ṏ̠͇̗̖̭̓ ̻̮̳̥͗̉̚N̗͇̳̳̠̱͌̂͆͛ͦ͆ͯͅȎ͚̰̝̌̓̔̿̈́ͪͥ ̱͙̦͙̙̫͎̎̌́ͅN̖͔̣͊̈̚O̼̖̎̎͊̇ͧ͋̑̔̐ ̺̜͕͚̉̂Ń̘̪̘̀̒ͭ̊Ô̤̺̘̜̳͖̤ͮ̈̃ͅ ̖̦̟͉̜̗̃Ñ͓̫͍̯O̗̯̝͎͎̮ͩ̇̎̉ͦ̈́̿ ̥̖͚̝́̂͆̏Ñ̻͎̪̂̃̔͋̿Ỏ͇̞͓̱͗ͤ̏̐̚  
H͑҉̻E̢̨̩̯ͨ̈́̀̃̆L͉͇̘̀̄͛̆̊̄̈́̚P̖̱̤̊ͩͣ͡ ͕͚̿̌̔ͯ̈̓M̛̪̹̼͕͔ͮ͂͐̎͆͜ͅE̶̷̬̯̲̱̞͉̗̭̬͆̔̐̚ ̢̜͙̹͉̬͇̣̳̂̆͞H̢̋̔ͦͭ̍҉͉͇̺̦͙E͔̺͚̗ͯ̂̓̓̂̚Ļ̶̮̤̆̀ͪͯͪ͗̈́̐ͭ͡P̵̛͎͇̐ͨͤ̄ͨ̑ͪ ̹͚ͨͦ̽ͦͪͮ̈̋͝M̗͎̖̱̃̎̈̓̾͑ͬ̇Ę̖̺̖͉̟̗̦ͭ ̝̤̟͙̝͍̦ͥͣ̑̐H̛̫̭͉̤̫̩̋̎ͭ̐͜E̵̡̺̹̺͖ͭ̑̊̑L̘͚ͫͪͨ̈́͊ͮ̕P̈́ͤ̋͊̿҉̟̘̪̦̗͢ͅ ̞̘̌̑̿́ͨ̕M̴̩̉ͯ̔ͩ̏͡E͔̹̤̪̙̫͎̾̃ ̸̯̭̲̻͚̺̽ͪ̈́͐͂̒ͤ̋̚H̷̘͔̟̙ͥ͗ͤ͂͋E̻̳͍̋͒͌̏ͥͭ́̚L̵̷̨͙̺ͫ̓ͦ̇P̷̛̩̪̖̘͎͚͌̂ͭ͗̓̈͊ ͮ̒͂̓̿ͫ҉̜̜͟M̴̸̜͙̝͎̬͇̓ͤ͐ͦE̴̡͉͒͂ ̫͍͙̌̽ͧ͘Ĥ̨̺͉͈͙͉̆̊ͭ̀̈͆͜Ẹ̷̝͓̫͈̙̄̉̔̈ͨͣ̋̓͝L̷̲͉̬̩͕̻̙͂ͯͣ̃ͫ͢P̢͇̒̀ͣ̈͒͗͡ ̬͉̂̇̏̽ͥͥͬ͋͟M̜̳̺͕̮͂ͪͅE̡̛͖̭̣̙̘̺̫ͨ͂͛ͭ̏̔̑̄̎ ̷̱̆̚̕H̡̺̤̼͚̣ͮ̂͐͟Eͭͩͣ̉ͣ҉͍L̢̺͇̙̪̟̼͖̍͒̇̑̏P̯̺̣̥̜̖̼͈̰̽͂̽ ̗̮͔̲̯͛ͧ̒̿M͕̗̤̦̭̙̞̈́̍̂̈͂͢Ě̜͈͔̳ͥͧͥ ̪̠̬̩̱̈̊͌͝H̛̼͕̰͉̹͙͙̺̬̓͛ͫ̏̍ͫͤ͠Eͤ̌̆̾͏͓͇̖̻̫̲͡L̳͖̳͉͔̳̫̞̉̅͐ͥ̑ͥͫ̂͋͠Ṗ̜̹̮̦̬̻̒̔ͯͮ͌̌̓ ̧͕͆ͥ̓̌͑͂Ḿ̬̄ͬ̋̃ͬͪ̈́͠E̳̗̝͚͕̻̖ͨ̍ͪ͊̅̑̕ ̛̖̱͈͐̄H͕̱̤̩̪̝̬͉̅ͭ͆̿̀͋͢͠͡E̢̜̜̦͓̱̪̎̃̔ͬ̾͟Lͦ̓̾ͥ̎̀ͨ̚҉̴̩̻͔P̴̡̮͔̬̪̗͓̝̂͒ͦͤ͌̊ͅ ̬͇̫̙̞͈̦̓͂̒̈́ͩͮͅM͈͎͍̾͗͒ͧͨ͌̿̊̀̕E̸̷͖͕̜̙̯͔ͩ͂̎ͫ̎ͭ ̶̡̪̭̉̔́̋̓ͤͦͭȞ̶̛̻͍͎͓̰͕͛͐͆̑͋͊̕Ę͔̝̝̖̰̱ͧͫͧͮL̢͚̮͙͈͈̤̎ͪ̈ͥ̅̈P̓̒͗͝҉͉ ͣ̉ͥ̂̍̚͏̫̳̲͘͜M̟̬̗̰ͨ̃̏ͫ̽̇͘͝ͅE̊ͬ̊͑̐҉̛͔͎̗͇͉͘ͅͅ ̸̨͍̩̺ͬ̏ͦ͌̚͘H̖͇̫̗̠̐̃̅͒ͥͦͫ̋͟E̸̡̘͇̠͉̖̿̽Ļ̣̪̱͍̭̻̣̇͢Ṗ̶̮͍̩̦̓ͨͪ͛ͨͥ̐͑͡ͅ ̢̧͎̗͓̲̘͖̎͘M̶̌͛͗̂̀͌͛ͭ͠҉͚͉̲̩Ĕ̺̖̞̥̱̻̪̀͋ͯ̃̂ ͕͇̺̗̥̮̣̟̋͂̌̾͟H̢̫ͥͧ̑͑̐̃͂̓̂͡Eͭ͑̎̑̌ͩͣͤ҉̳͈͓͎̯̻͇͟L͖̭̰̟̥̲̯̘ͦ̊͂ͧͪ̔͘P̲̥̹͋ͥ ̛̻̘̭̟́̆̐̄ͭ̔̽̄M̵̱͆̓̕ͅE͓̜̘͈̙̅ͦ͟͠ ̨̡͚̰̲̎̾͒ͧ͒̿̈͝H͉̞̰͙͎̗̠̏̽̌̈͑̚E̱̱̥̍̑̄L̵̵̢͓͙͔͍̼̥̞͔͇͌ͯ̓̑̅P̶͚͖͕̒͐̿͋̿ ̏̂̅̑ͤ͟͏̯̳M̷̷̞̊̀̃̍̀ͦͩ̚͜E̶̼̼̖̲ͨͫ͑̔̔̀̈́̓͜ͅ ͎͇̺͕̖͚̼̦̇͌͆͗ͭ̈́̊͟Ḩ͛̋ͨ̓͏̙E̢̲͙͑͆͒͌͋͛͜Ḽ͖͊ͧ̒P̴̧̘̪͙̣̱͎͖͍̅̔ ͚̺̜ͨ̓̿̐͡M̯̖̣͚ͨ̃̏̃͋ͬͬ̇E̷̱̰̲̗̣͎͓̔͑̍̈̓̿ͥ͆ ̤̻̣̗̠͍͎̗̀̾ͪ̂ͦ͒̅͗̂͘͜H̶̦̝̝̿͊ͫ͛ͅẼ̙̜̹̪͂ͯ̎̐̓͜L̯͙͚̺̯̏̓̓ͩͭ̃͒̿͜P̧̻͙̩̬̤̤̼ͮ̏͛̽̋ͮ͒ͣ̎ ̡̙͙̎̆̍̌̂̒̾͠ͅM̷̡͇͍̜̬͎ͭ̄̑ͣ͆̈̓ͮ̎E͛̃̎̍҉̰̦̼̜͚͓ ̶̜̖̩̱̫̬͊̇H̓͐͗ͭ͛̚͢҉̘̱̣̠̯͉Ě̷̳̖̲ͦ̀ͬ̽̅͞L̘͔̱̞̖̽̍̒ P̙̖̻̝̠̞͉̀͋̆̇͂ͪ͛̔ͨ̏ͨ̂͜͟͡ ̵̢̞̪̭̥͉̘͈̬̒ͧ̀̈́ͣ̐͊̀ͩͫ̕

In every drawing, if you looked closely, you could make out a figure among the trees. Tall. Elongated limbs. Faceless.  
Noah heard a sniffle from the bed and looked there again. She hadn’t noticed it before, in the darkness of the room, but now she could see clearly that Jessica’s arms were littered with tally marks, done in permanent marker. Her friend looked up at her. Her hair was a mattered mess, and her eyes were swollen and red from crying. Noah started, but Jessica put up her hands and hissed, “No! Don’t come any closer,”  
Noah stood still for a second before slowly sitting on the foot of the bed.  
“What happened?” she managed to ask, voice breaking on the last syllable as she felt tears well up in her eyes from seeing her friend like this.  
“What are those marks?”  
Jessica shifted uncomfortably.  
“Remember how I told you I’d blacked out and lost time?I... I’ve been keeping track of how many times it’s happened.”  
Noah could see at least 40 marks, in clusters of fives. She frowned.  
“And all these?” She gestured to the papers on the floor. Jessica bit her lip and looked away before a sob racked her body, and she hid her face in her hands. Noah went to her side and held her close, and Jessica didn’t struggle to get free.  
“Oh, Noah, I can’t get it out of my head. These images… I tried drawing them to make it go away, but it just gets worse and I don’t know what to do!”  
Noah tried comforting her, and after a while, the sobbing died out.  
“I’m sorry… I know this is crazy,” Jessica hiccupped as she pulled away.  
“It’s not. I mean, it is. But I believe you.”  
“You do?”  
“We’ll figure this out, Jess. I promise. Look… Go take a shower. I’ll clean this up. I think… I think that as soon as we’ve done that, you’ll feel better.”  
Jessica nodded and hugged Noah tightly. Some of the light seemed to have returned to her eyes, and she went to the bathroom to get cleaned up. Noah could hear the shower running while she picked up the drawings and ripped them apart before stuffing them into the waste basket. She managed to fill a whole plastic bag with torn up paper.  
She picked up the last crumbled paper from the floor, and smoothed it out. It was the symbol again. She pocketed it and crossed her arms over her chest. The next step was obvious.  
It was time to visit grandma.


	6. Chapter 6

Dusk was slowly descending on the lane when Noah knocked on her grandmother’s door. There was light coming from the window in the living room, and Noah could make out her grandmother’s silhouette against the curtains as she moved from the heavy armchair.  
The curtain in front of the small window in the door was pushed aside, and her grandmother peeked out. Noah knew that the plump old lady had to stand on tip toes in order to properly see her visitors. The door opened, and Frau Hinzelmann pulled Noah into a hug that was surprisingly strong, despite her grandmother’s age.  
“Hamuda!” the old lady exclaimed, using the Hebrew word that she used for all her grandchildren – Noah only had girl cousins.  
“Hello, bubbeleh,” Noah managed to choke out in Hebrew, although she did not speak much of it. Her parents and their siblings had grown up with the stories and language and tried to pass it down to their children, but although Noah was the one who knew the most among her cousins, it was still not very much.  
Frau Hinzelmann released her from the tight hug, and Noah took a deep breath.  
“Come in, come in, I’ll make us some tea – with nanna. What brings you here? It’s not Saturday yet, my dear.” Her grandmother led her into the kitchen and placed a tray of very sweet biscuits on the table, before puttering around the kettle and plucking leaves of mint from a small, potted plant sitting in the windowsill.  
“Well, it’s… Kind of hard to explain,” Noah said. “It’s… something weird.”  
“Weird?” her grandmother echoed as she put down a steaming mug of tea in front of her granddaughter. Noah nodded and stirred her tea with a spoon, watching the mint leaves get caught on the handle while the tea turned darker. She raised it to her lips and blew on it.  
Her grandmother knew “weird”. She had given every one of her granddaughters a Vehrensdahler for protection when they’d had their Bat Mitzvahs, and she dutifully kept traditions.  
Noah knew that if anyone were going to take her seriously, it was her grandmother.  
“You’ve lived here your whole life, right?”  
“Yes, born and raised here, just like my parents. Hid in the basement during the war when they came for us. Before that, we used it for potatoes. Now, it’s just storage. Mostly your grandfather’s things and other old relics.” Her grandmother took off her glasses and started polishing them with the sleeve of her shirt. Noah thoughtfully dipped a biscuit into the tea.  
“Then you know about Der Großmann, right?”  
Her grandmother mumbled something under her breath, then put on her glasses and stared gravely at Noah.  
“Hamuda, what have you gotten yourself into?”  
Noah swallowed the last part of biscuit and sipped her tea. Point of no return; if she told her grandmother, it would feel so... real.  
“I don’t know. I think Jessica is in trouble. If Der Großmann really exists… If he really, really exists, I think he might have targeted her.”  
“I saw it on the television,” her grandmother said, pursing her lips. “Poor girl. I thought she’d been lucky, to have escaped it, but perhaps I was wrong. I figured something like this might happen.”  
“What do I do, then?” Noah asked exasperatedly. Her grandmother got up and went into the living room. Noah could hear her opening cabinets and rummaging around before she came back with something wrapped in a handkerchief. She put it in Noah’s hand, and Noah unwrapped it to reveal another shining Vehrensdahler.  
“Have her hold onto this. It’s not ideal – it won’t make the problem go away – but it will have to do for now. In regards to how to kill it… I don’t know. He is a malevolent faerie. Those are difficult to kill.”  
“A fairy?” She remembered reading something about fairies in the old books from the library, but hadn’t taken it seriously, figuring that whatever Der Großmann was, he couldn’t possibly be like Tinkerbell or anything like that.  
“No, not a fairy like the Disney ones. No. A faerie. Something older. Vicious creatures of the forest. You would need something very old and very powerful to kill one,”  
Just then, the doorbell rang.  
Frau Hinzelmann got up and went to the hallway while Noah finished the last bit of tea. She then followed her grandmother.  
In the doorway stood a man, clad in black, somewhere in his late forties, holding a heavy-looking toolbox.  
“-it was a tremendous help, I really am grateful. Are you sure there isn’t some way I can repay you?” he asked. Noah’s grandmother tutted.  
“Herr Schwartz, I can assure you, it was nothing special. Simply what anyone would do for their new neighbor out of common decency,” She then looked at Noah, who was putting on her coat. “Leaving already, dear?”  
“Yes, bubbeleh. I want to get home and figure out what could be done about our… little problem.” She eyed Herr Schwartz warily. He didn’t seem to notice. He was a tall man, with a mop of curly black hair. He seemed nice enough, but she didn’t want this total stranger to think that they were crazy. She was well aware of how the whole situation would seem to an outsider.  
She kissed her grandmother on both cheeks, and assured her that they would see each other on Shabbat.  
“Well, Herr Schwartz, if you really do want to repay me, you can walk my granddaughter to the bus stop and see to it that she boards it safely,” Noah’s grandmother smiled.  
And thus, Noah found herself walking beside the strange-but-kind-seeming man under the street lights.  
He was the one to break the awkward silence between them.  
“So… You’re one of Frau Hinzelmann’s granddaughters, then?”  
“Yeah, she’s my paternal grandmother.”  
“Which grade are you in?”  
Noah told him while eyeing the cluster of trees on the other side of the road, nervously clenching the Vehrensdahler in her pocket. Der Großmann stayed near trees. And she was involved, now. It wasn’t safe for her to be near the trees in the dark, no matter how many Herr Schwartz’s accompanied her.  
“At the local school?” he continued on. Noah nodded. “Bless me, then you will probably end up in my class after Christmas break! You see, I’m about to start teaching at your school. Religion and philosophy.”  
“I’ll be starting Religion after Christmas,” Noah confirmed.  
“Well, the world really is a small place, after all,” Herr Schwartz clasped his hands together. “I am very much looking forward to it. I think we will start with myth and folklore.”  
“You know a lot about that stuff?”  
They had reached the bus stop. The wind was rustling the leaves of the trees, and Noah pulled her coat tighter around her.  
“Oh, yes. One of my favorite subjects, in fact.”  
There was silence while Noah thought about how to phrase her next question.  
“Herr Schwartz… Say that I needed something powerful, like… Something related to trees. And old thing, preferably.”  
“Like Yggdrasil?”  
Noah raised an eyebrow. His suggestion had been lightning fast. He continued;  
“Well, when you say old, powerful, and tree, then I’d think about Yggdrasil, you see? The Tree of Life, or the World’s Tree, according to Norse Mythology. Odin hung on it for nine days to achieve wisdom… It’s the most powerful tree there is.”  
“But it’s something I’d have to use as a tool, so a whole tree would probably complicate matters,” Noah said, forcing a laugh. Herr Schwartz hummed thoughtfully, not laughing, appearing to take it seriously instead of asking any uncomfortable questions about Noah’s need for something like this.  
“A branch from Yggdrasil, then? A wooden spear made from that tree should be able to kill just about anything, you know.”  
Noah looked him in the eyes. He didn’t know what was going on, he couldn’t possibly know, and yet he answered her with obvious interest.  
“But Yggdrasil isn’t real, is it? It’s not growing in a place you can go to, right?”  
Judging from the way Herr Schwartz’ face lit up, she had asked just the right question.  
“Well, Noah, you see… Yggdrasil isn’t a proper, material thing, no, but a representation of it should do just fine. Yggdrasil was the world’s center – an axis mundi, if you will – and thus, any big ash tree could symbolize it to those who believed, as an imago mundi… Something that represented it should be enough.”  
“Any ash tree?”  
“The bigger, the better, but yes. A branch from Yggdrasil – representation or not – would probably be very powerful, I assume.”  
Suddenly, his silhouette was illuminated from behind, making Noah squint. The bus had come around the corner. Herr Schwartz signaled for it to stop.  
Noah wondered why he didn’t ask her any questions; usually, someone would at least wonder why a sixteen year old was interested in something like this.  
She stepped onto the bus and looked back at him.  
“Thank you, Herr Schwartz,” she said. He looked at her gravely.  
“Good luck, Noah. Be careful.”  
Noah gaped at him and wanted to say something, but the doors closed, and the bus started moving. She looked out of the windows, but the black-dressed man was already lost in the dark.


	7. Chapter 7

Noah flipped through another book and sighed. Her thick brows knitted in concentration. It was one of the old ones from the library. Usually, you couldn’t check out books that were as old as these, but the elderly librarian had made an exception. The letters were gothic, and the language old-fashioned. Even with Google by her side, she was at a loss.  
Her phone rang, startling her. Ever since realizing that she was involved, and possibly in danger, she’d been jumpy.  
The caller ID showed Jessica’s mom.  
“Hello?” Noah said into the receiver.  
“Noah? Is Jessica with you?”  
Jessica’s mother sounded worried, maybe even scared. Noah felt her heartbeat quicken.  
“No, I haven’t heard from her. What’s-”  
“We can’t find her! I went upstairs to check on her. The window was wide open, and she’s gone. And there’s… A symbol of some sort carved into her door. Noah, what’s going on?!”  
Noah took a deep, shaky breath.  
“I don’t know. But I’ll try to find out. I’ll… I’ll call you if I hear anything,”  
She then hung up, and called Jessica.  
When she finally got through, she couldn’t hear anything but static.  
“Jess? Jess, where are you?”  
Static.  
Then, through the static, barely audible, “.̹̱̠̜̣ͤ.̜̻̱̮̟͓͊͡.͈̙̦̰.̡̜̩̳͍͍̫͉̎.̨͈̓̆͛̀̂.̞̺̈̒͝.̛ͅ.͖͎̤̤̩ͅ.̛͖̞̦̟̋̄ͯ͛ͅ..̩̪͕̼ͣͧ̒͡.̸̙͈ͧ̀ͯ.̻̮̺̮̿̄̓̚I’m sorry, Noah….̹̱̠̜̣ͤ..͈.̯̰̱̻̺͕̭.̜̻̱̮̟͓͊͡.͈̙̦̰.̡̜̩̳͍͍̫͉̎.̨͈̓̆͛̀̂.̞̺̈̒͝.̛ͅ.͖͎̤̤̩ͅ.̛͖̞̦̟̋̄ͯ͛ͅ..̩̪͕̼ͣͧ̒͡I wanted to find your coin.̬̼̣̻̞.͓̠̓̆̏ͦͪ.̵̣͉̗̦̖̤ͅ.͔͎̝͎̐.͈.̯̰̱̻̺͕̭.̜̻̱̮̟͓͊͡.͈̙̦̰.̡̜̩̳͍͍̫͉̎.̨͈̓̆͛̀̂.̞̺̈̒͝.̛ͅ.͖͎̤̤̩ͅ.̛͖̞̦̟̋̄ͯ͛ͅ..̩̪͕̼ͣͧ̒͡”  
Noah felt a chill roll over her body.  
“Are you in the woods?!”  
“.̹̱̠̜̣ͤ.҉̗̦.̠̘̑̃.̬̼̣̻̞.͓̠̓̆̏ͦͪ.̵̣͉̗̦̖̤ͅ.͔͎̝͎̐.͈.̯̰̱̻̺͕̭.̜̻̱̮̟͓͊͡.͈̙̦̰.̡̜̩̳͍͍̫͉̎.̨͈̓̆͛̀̂.̞̺̈̒͝.̛ͅ.͖͎̤̤̩ͅ.̛͖̞̦̟̋̄ͯ͛ͅ..̩̪͕̼ͣͧ̒͡.̸̙͈ͧ̀ͯ.̻̮̺̮̥͓͉̿̄̓̚Noah, I think he’s here –”  
The call ended.  
Noah sat at her desk with her phone in her hand. She stared at the screen, her mind void of any thoughts.  
The clock on her phone’s screen changed as a minute had passed, and Noah strengthened her resolve and shot up, so her chair wheeled backwards, hitting her dresser. She grabbed her flashlight from a box on the bottom of her closet and ran down the stairs.  
“Mom, I’m going to Zacharias’ to work on our project,” she yelled while lacing her shoes. She didn’t give her mother a chance to reply; she ran out of the house as she pulled on her coat, grabbed her bike, and headed towards the woods.  
She dialed Zacharias’ number with one hand as she pedaled hard. It was getting darker by the minute.  
He picked up on the third ring.  
“Zacharias, your dad is a park ranger, right?” Noah said before he even got to say hello. “Is he there?”  
“Uh, yeah, he is. What’s up, Noah?”  
“I need you to ask him something for me. Is he there?”  
“Yeah, hold on, let me put you on speaker phone… Okay, he can hear you now. What’s wrong, you sound-”  
“Herr Mencken, I need to know where to find an ash tree.”  
“An ash tree?” Zacharias asked.  
“Please, it’s important! I’ll explain later, I promise,” she said, although she had no intention to do so. He wouldn’t believe her anyway.  
She heard some murmuring in the background. Zacharias came back on the line.  
“We have a map of the woods here, my dad says he can mark spots with lots of ash trees. I can take a picture of it and send it to you?” he suggested. She could hear paper being shuffled around in the background.  
“Please do it!”  
“Noah, what’s going on?”  
“…I’ll tell you when I figure it out,” For a moment, there was only silence, before Zacharias sighed audibly.  
“Alright. I’ll text you.”  
“Thank you, thank you, thank you…”  
She received the photo right as she got to the edge of the woods. It was almost completely dark now. She parked her bike against a tree and studied the map on her phone. Small, red pins had been placed on it. It took her a little while to figure out where on the map she was.  
“Thank god for smartphones,” she mumbled as she found an app for a compass. She then faced the forest.  
Taking a deep breath, she stepped in, while the dead leaves crunched under her shoes.

Even with the flashlight, Noah felt as if the darkness was going to suffocate her.  
She followed the compass northwest. The trail made a turn. Noah kept walking, now amongst elm and oak, fir and rowan, heart pounding and blood whooshing in her ears.  
She had a plan. It wasn’t much, but at least it was something, she told herself. Find an ash tree. Find Jessica, somehow. Find Der Großmann, somehow. Kill him with the branch… somehow. Get out of there alive.  
It seemed like nothing was alive except for her. Not in this forest. Naturally, there was no sound of birds, since it was dark already. But there was also no rustling in the undergrowth, no buzz of insects, and the leaves did not shake on their branches. Noah could only hear her own breathing, her own heartbeat.  
It was quiet.  
Too quiet.  
If she could hear herself, then surely he could hear her, too.  
She shone her flashlight around the trees. There was nobody in sight. She looked down on her phone compass to check if she was heading in the right direction.  
The screen flickered.  
Noah felt a tingling sensation on her back. Almost as if…  
She stopped dead in her tracks.  
It felt like she was being watched.  
She whipped around, flailing the flashlight from side to side.  
Not far from her was a pale, featureless face. The same face as she had seen in Jessica’s drawings.  
Even without eyes, he was watching her intently.  
His limbs were too long. They seemed to stretch, somehow connecting to the trees, and it was as if long, dark tendrils were protruding from his back, snaking around the tree trunks. He emanated an aura of all things wrong. Like he was not meant to exist anywhere, as if he was anti-everything.  
Noah felt like throwing up. Instead, she screamed. Not a defensive scream to ward off predators, but one of pure, unfiltered terror.  
Then she ran. Adrenaline was coursing through her body as her legs carried her through the woods, slaloming around the trees, and she felt him coming closer and closer without making a sound, and the only thing she could think of was to pray, even though she didn’t exactly feel religious and even though she doubted that any god could hear her now. If any god existed, why had they allowed a being like this to also exist?  
But still, fallen twigs snapped under her feet as she breathlessly uttered the only prayer she could think of, the one she had heard repeated so many times while she felt safe and warm with her family by her side.  
“Shema Yisrael…”  
The screen faded to black as her phone died in her hand.  
“Adonai Eloheinu…”  
Her lungs burned from the cold air, her sides hurt, but she kept running, because she knew that if she stopped, she would never be running again.  
“Adonai Echad…”  
She felt as if he maintained the same distance even though she ran and ran, as if he was merely toying with her, waiting for her to tire and give up.  
“Please, God, I don’t want to die.”  
It occurred to her that she had no idea what an ash tree actually looked like.  
She remembered something from Biology about the leaves being vaguely teardrop-shaped, but nothing else.  
“Please don’t kill me-”  
She stumbled and fell flat on her stomach. She lay there for what seemed like an eternity, gasping for breath. The flashlight had fallen out of her grasp and was now lying in the grass, illuminating the trees in front of her. She was still clutching her cellphone in her hand, and the screen flickered back to life.  
She closed her eyes and waited for him to come and take her, but nothing happened.  
Finally, she mustered up the courage to get to her feet, and although her knees shook under her, she went to the flashlight and picked it up, still gasping for breath.  
She could see his white face staring eyelessly at her among the trees, but he did not approach, and she noticed that her fear had suddenly dulled.  
She allowed herself to look away from the elongated creature, to survey the environment, to find out what had changed, what was keeping him from approaching.  
It didn’t occur to her until she shone her light on the ground. She was standing in a fairy ring.  
Hadn’t her grandmother said something about Der Großmann being a fairy?  
…No. A faerie. Different. Whatever kind of fae-folk he was, it seemed like the fairy ring protected her from him. She would be safe until she stepped outside the ring in the grass. But how long could she stay there? Rather than protecting her, Noah felt as if the ring had managed to trap her – as if he had managed to trap her.  
A low moan sounded behind her. She whipped around, but all she could see were trees. Really big trees. Trees grew faster in his presence, she remembered. Then, she looked up.  
The sight made her grip on her cellphone slack, and it fell to the ground, the sound muffled by the grass.  
Up there on the tree, tied to the branches at the knees, stomach, and elbows with ropes, hung Jessica. She was bleeding from somewhere on her stomach, blood staining her t-shirt reddish brown, and her hair hung in front of her face, obscuring it completely.  
“Jess-” Noah said breathlessly, then louder, “Jessica!”  
Jessica managed to look up – her face was pale, and she was shaking uncontrollably. Her eyes met Noah’s, and she gasped.  
“Noah, get away, he’s right there!” Noah wanted to step out of the circle and get to her friend, but  
Wait  
The tree  
The leaves were vaguely shaped like teardrops.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Noah shone the flashlight on the branches. Could it be an ash tree? She wasn’t sure, but… This was their best shot.  
Their only shot.  
“Jess? Jess, listen to me! Can you move your arms?”  
“Wha…?”  
“Can you move your arms?!”  
Jessica jerked around a bit, but screwed her face up in pain.  
“Yes, I can,” she muttered. It would have to do. “Noah, what are you-”  
“There’s a branch by your right hand. I need you to break it off and throw it to me!”  
Jessica looked at Noah, and then at something behind her, in the trees.  
“Noah, I’m not sure I can… Just get out of here!”  
“I am not leaving without you! And I can’t, anyway, not without the branch. So, try. Throw it to me!”  
Jessica fumbled around, and her hand found the branch. She grasped at it weakly, and then, mustering up as much strength as she could, she broke it off. Noah looked over her shoulder. Der Großmann was still there, looking at them, waiting like a predator patiently stalking its prey.  
She looked back at Jessica, who was now holding the back in her hand, but her grip on it was beginning to falter. She was losing consciousness.  
“Jess! Jess, stay awake and throw it to me, please!” Noah called desperately, but the branch fell to the ground as Jessica hung limply on the tree.  
Noah felt her body move on its own, as she leaped from the fairy ring, feeling the roots of the tree collide with her body as she grabbed the branch. She got up and turned to face Der Großmann, holding the branch in front of her with both hands like a spear.  
He was standing right in front of her, so close that if she stretched out her arm, she would touch him.  
They stared at each other for a moment that felt like it dragged on endlessly.  
Noah was not small, nor was she very tall, but Der Großmann made her feel vulnerable in the way he seemingly looked down at her. He had to be 3-4 meters, at least. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but it seemed like the black tendrils protruding from his back were snaking around the trees, pulsating and writhing.  
He tipped his white face to one side, as if he was measuring her, surveying this tiny little human who dared venture into his forest.  
Noah couldn’t move. She did not dare to move a single muscle. Her breath was caught in her throat, and the branch in her hands was shaking.  
It seemed like they had reached a stalemate. This could have gone on forever, the two of them staring each other down, waiting for the other to move first, had it not been for what happened next.  
Noah received a text message.  
Her cellphone sounded loudly in the quiet forest, and both Noah and Der Großmann turned to see where the noise came from. But Noah recognized the sound just a moment earlier than the creature, and, broken from her trance, she lunged, stabbing the tree branch deeply into his body, silently praying, “Please be ash tree, please be ash tree…”  
It felt like forcing the branch through thick goo, and for a moment, she wondered if this was what the consistency of pure darkness felt like.  
Then she thought nothing, but simply stared in awe as Der Großmann turned his head to look at her for one last time before dissolving, body turning into thick, black smog that filled the air around her. Afraid to breathe it, she covered her face with her hands and fell to her knees just in time before it enveloped her.  
Noah held her breath until she felt like she was choking, muscles spasming in pleas for air. Finally, she dared to take a breath and look up.  
Der Großmann, whatever he was, was gone. Noises of the forest were slowly returning; leaves crackled under her feet as she got up on shaky legs and went over, picking up her phone, ignoring Zacharias’ text even though it had saved her, and she shone the flashlight on Jessica.  
“Jess? Can you hear me? Are you okay?” Noah asked tentatively. Jessica looked back at Noah, having regained consciousness.  
“I… I think so. Is he gone?”  
“I don’t know. I think he is, at least for now. C’mon, let’s see if we can get you down.”


	9. Epilogue

“I still don’t understand,” Noah said, crossing the school yard with Zacharias and Jessica. “My phone shouldn’t be able to get texts that far in the forest. How did it reach me?”  
“Beats me,” Zacharias shrugged. “Maybe you just got lucky.”  
“Where there’s a monster, there’s a miracle,” Jessica said, looking at them both with tired eyes. It had been two days since the incident in the woods, and thankfully, the wound in her stomach hadn’t been serious. She was more or less recovered, albeit sore from hanging on a tree for so long.  
“Wow, Jess. That was deep. I’m impressed,” Noah said. Jessica laughed.  
“Don’t give me credit, it’s a quote by Nash.”  
“Who?”  
“Never mind. And stop worrying about that phone. Stranger things have happened. You of all people should know that. What’s important is that we’re all safe now,” Jessica said as they walked through the school gates. Noah was just about to reply when she noticed a familiar man across the street, clad in black, hands shoved into the pockets of a leather jacket. He took out one hand and tipped his sunglasses down, raising an eyebrow, sending her a questioning look. Noah smiled, and gave him a thumbs up before hurrying after her friends, clutching her Vehrensdahler in her pocket.  
Jessica was right, after all.

Stranger things have happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this back in 2015, after a long break from writing - that, coupled with the fact that it was 3 years ago by now, means that the writing is a little rough, the dialogue doesn't flow as well as I would like it to, etc. But I am still so damn proud of this. At the time it was the best I could do, and I hold the story very dear to my heart.  
> If you made it this far... Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart!


End file.
